Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Why did I get so little done today? This is why: “A spring nor’easter has already dropped at least a foot of snow on parts of New York and Pennsylvania, leading to power outages and the closure of businesses and schools.”
* Eastern Ukraine: “For weeks Ukraine and its western allies have been waiting for Russia’s promised offensive in the Donbas — an eastern region of the country that borders Russia — in the wake of Moscow’s hasty retreat from around the capital, Kyiv. Now, that offensive has begun.”
* Military aid: “The Biden administration is preparing to announce another substantial military aid package for Ukraine this week, five U.S officials tell NBC News. Three officials said the package is expected to be similar in size to the $800 million one the administration announced last week.”
* Oil embargo: “The president of the European Commission has confirmed publicly that the bloc is working on the details of an embargo on Russian oil imports as Moscow began a major offensive to seize eastern and southern Ukraine. The president, Ursula von der Leyen, told a German newspaper in a weekend interview that European Union officials were hammering out how the measure would be implemented with an eye toward minimizing the damage to Europe’s economy.”
* National Environmental Policy Act: “The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it is restoring parts of a bedrock environmental law, once again requiring that climate impacts be considered and local communities have input before federal agencies approve highways, pipelines and other major projects.”
* A story I’ve been watching: “Attorney John Eastman revealed Monday that he has asserted attorney-client privilege on 37,000 pages of emails related to his work for then-President Donald Trump in the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.”
* I’m planning to do an item related to this tomorrow: “Top members of the Oath Keepers now facing seditious conspiracy charges chatted for days about providing security for some of the highest-profile figures associated with Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the election, according to a newly released trove of text messages.” * It looks like 40,000 student borrowers will see immediate debt cancellation, but more will benefit in the near future: “The U.S. Department of Education says it will retroactively help millions of federal student loan borrowers who have been hurt and held back by its troubled income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, calling the plans’ longstanding flaws and mismanagement ‘inexcusable.’” * That’s quite a lengthy conversation: “Kimberly Guilfoyle, the fiancée of Donald Trump Jr., on Monday met for more than nine hours with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. An earlier attempt at a voluntary closed-door interview with her was derailed over a dispute about who was in the room.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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